Operation International Children (OIC) is a grass-roots program founded in 2004 by actor Gary Sinise (CSI: NY, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13) and author Laura Hillenbrand (Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption; Seabiscuit: An American Legend). Sinise and Hillenbrand created OIC to give concerned citizens of the world a way to reach out to children in war-stricken countries and support American troops in their efforts to assist them. Follow Gary Sinise on Twitter and learn more about Laura Hillenbrand's work.

Program Closure Announcement

Dear Friends,

We announce the closing of the Operation International Children program with both heavy and light hearts. Heavy because it is not easy to imagine the end of a program that has been such a success for the past nine years, and that has brought joy to so many around the world. Light because the end of OIC means that the circumstances that led to its founding have changed, and no longer are there such large numbers of men and women serving our military in Iraq and Afghanistan in combat situations.

To our donors and supporters - how do we express our tremendous gratitude for helping us to achieve so much? The joy reflected in the faces of children who have received our school supply kits lets us know that this program has served its purpose. We believe those moments of joy have the potential to bring about great change and our joy comes from the knowledge that we have worked together to make that possible.

To the men and women who serve in our military, please accept our sincere gratitude for your service and sacrifice. This program would not have been possible without you. It has been our honor and privilege to support all you have done to "Help Our Soldiers Help Children" for the past nine years by distributing our supplies.

On behaf of Laura Hillenbrand, Gary Sinise, Mary Eisenhower, and all of us at Operation International Children and People to People International, thank you. This program has truly made a difference.

Operation International Children
2004-2013

159 Shipments Sent, Containing:

358,763 School Supply Kits
8,000 Copies of Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand, translated into Arabic
6,528 Boxes of Stuffed Animals
3,200 Boxes of Shoes
1,632 Boxes of Sports Equipment
416 Boxes of Blankets
280 Boxes of Food Items
248 Boxes of Clothing
214 Boxes of Supplies for Service Members
144 Boxes of Hygiene Items
144 Boxes of Toys

Special thanks to the more than 8,610 monetary and supply donors and 8,649 volunteers who have dedicated their time, resources, and effort to making this happen.

Operation International Children plans to send a final shipment of supplies to Kuwait in June 2013. Any supply donations received following this announcement will be included in that shipment, and any monetary donations received will help to cover shipping costs. Monetary donations received after June will be designated to PTPI's International Friendship Fund. Supply donations received after June will be donated to Kansas City-based organizations. Please contact Liz Wegman at lizw@ptpi.org or 816.531.4701 with any questions.